Book Review
Vegas at Odds
Vegas at Odds: Labor Conflict in a Leisure Economy, 1960-1985. By James
P. Kraft, Baltimore, MD, The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2010,
273 pp., $55.00/hardback.
Las Vegas resorts employ workers
in a number of occupations including chefs, musicians, clerks, parking attendants, security staff, repair
workers, bartenders, casino dealers,
and housekeepers. Unfortunately,
labor relations between workers
and management in the industry
have been “at odds” in many ways,
as James P. Kraft examines in this
book that focuses on the years 1960
to 1985.
The first gambling establishments and resorts in Las Vegas were
started by entrepreneurs. In the late
1960s, ownership of resorts began
changing from entrepreneurs to
publicly traded corporations. This
change put distance between the
workers and owners and created an
“impersonal face of management in
the new age of corporate control of
the Las Vegas tourist business.”
Both custom and law segmented
the labor market in Las Vegas before
the civil rights laws of the 1960s had
an effect. The best jobs were almost
always held by white men. Public
ordinances barred women from
working as bartenders. Dealers and
resorts restricted African Americans to working in areas of housekeeping and cleaning. In the history
of the fight for equal rights, Kraft
includes how public policy, resort
owners, and unions reshaped the
composition of resort workforces.
Unions were established before
the rise of corporate ownership. The
Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees International Union,
known as the “Culinary,” is the largest organization of Las Vegas resort
workers. Established in 1938, it includes kitchen workers, housekeepers, bellmen, cocktail waitresses, and
other “front-of-the-house” workers. Interestingly, casino dealers are
not unionized. According to Kraft,
dealers never did organize “because
of the adroitness of management
in making these concessions, the
shortcomings of the union leaders
behind the effort, and the indifference or resistance of many dealers to
unionization.” The other large union
in Las Vegas is the Bartenders and
Beverage Dispensers Union. The
many smaller unions generally follow the agreements set in the contracts of the two large unions.
In 1956, about a dozen Strip properties formed the Nevada Industrial
Council to bargain with the unions.
Twelve downtown gambling establishments bargained through the
Downtown Casino Association.
Later, in 1968, 16 major resorts
joined together to transform the
Nevada Resort Association (NRA)
by making it responsible for negotiating their labor contracts.
Several strikes took place in Las
Vegas during the time period Kraft
examines. The two largest strikes
occurred in 1976 and 1984. Kraft
provides an overview of the issues,
negotiations, and leaders of both
sides.
In 1976, four union contracts expired at the same time and 13,000
workers at 15 major resorts went on
strike. Workers from other unions
would not cross picket lines, so a
dozen resorts had to shut down. One
of the main issues was the right of
union workers to honor picket lines
of other unions, called sympathy
strikes. The governor became involved in the negotiations and compromises were eventually reached.
The strike lasted 16 days and caused
major financial losses to resorts and
to the city as a whole.
In April 1984, more than 20,000
workers from four unions went on
strike. The issues included employer
contributions to union health and
welfare funds, the length of contracts, and sympathy strikes. Several
resorts reached agreements quickly.
The NRA properties were prepared
for the strike and remained open
with managers, nonunion employees, and temporary workers covering the limited services still offered. Some picketers harassed the
strikebreakers and guests, and there
were several clashes between picketers and police with almost 1,000
picketers arrested during the strike.
Many workers returned to work after a few weeks because of financial
need and the threat of permanent
replacement. The Culinary and Bartender unions reached agreements
with many but not all of the NRA
properties in May. Then, in June
1984, the smaller unions agreed to
new contracts. However, the conflict was not completely over until
July 1985 when several small resorts
filled their positions with nonunion
workers. It was the longest and most
costly strike ever, and was considered by some to be a major setback
for organized labor in Las Vegas.
Kraft uses numerous sources in
compiling the labor history of Las
Vegas from 1960 to 1985 and does
a good job of presenting the views
from both sides. Kraft includes some
“recollections of employees” whose
reflections on their work experiences
are interesting and entertaining. In
addition, photos of Las Vegas and
Monthly Labor Review • April 2011 69
Book Review
workers during this time period
help the reader visualize the work
atmosphere. Kraft devotes a chapter
to workplace incidents to provide
an overview of the labor arbitration
process. Sometimes the arbitrator
ruled in favor of the employee and
sometimes in favor of the employer.
Kraft uses these cases to shed light
on specific workplace experiences
and the perspectives and attitudes of
both sides.
This book would appeal to anyone
interested in the history of Las Vegas, labor relations, organized labor,
or knowing more about the worker
struggles that took place behind the
neon lights.
—Amy Butler
Office of Employment and
Unemployment Statistics
Division of Current Employment
Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
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70 Monthly Labor Review • April 2011